


You are Everything to Me

by Neverever



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Drifting Apart, Established Relationship, Insecurity, M/M, Miscommunication, Questioning, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27661432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: Now that Tony is suddenly preoccupied with work for Stark Industries, Steve worries that he is the problem in their relationship and that Tony is bored with him.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 211
Collections: AA Stony Server Bingo





	You are Everything to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the AA Server Bingo square, Insecurity.
> 
> Big thanks to arms_plutonic for helping with the fic.

Perfect morning, Steve thought as he nuzzled one of his favorite Tony-nuzzling spots. He could hear the rain hit the window, he had no plans for the morning, and no need to go anywhere or be anywhere other than in this bed with Tony. He moved to nibble Tony’s neck while he slid a hand around his trim waist.

“Hmm,” Tony muttered from his side of the bed.

Encouraged, Steve pressed his lips to Tony’s ear. And slipped a finger, then two under the waistband of Tony’s sleep pants. Maybe he could talk Tony into sleeping nude. Although he did like stripping the tank off Tony. 

“Unggh,” Tony grunted.

Steve kissed Tony’s neck. He pondered about waking Tony up entirely or just holding him here in his arms to fall asleep to wake up together. They didn’t need to get up right now, not with cold March rain outside. They could spend the whole morning in bed. Coffee, matching omelets, lazy morning sex, then lazy afternoon sex, just what they needed after a hard week.

Tony slipped out from under Steve’s arm. “Not now,” he stated. Tony was already wide awake and working on his tablet.

“Huh?” Steve replied as he watched Tony get out of bed. Still surprised, he looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It blinked 6:30 am. Tony never voluntarily woke up that early, Steve was pretty sure, though they’d only been living together for a couple of months.

“I have work to do before my morning meetings.” Tony said as he grabbed a pressed shirt, tie, and a jacket from their closet.

“What about breakfast -- I could get you coffee --?”

“I’ll get coffee and a donut on my way.” Tony pulled on his pants and grabbed his tablet. “Catch you later,” he mumbled. He headed off to work somewhere as he muttered about reporters and tech companies and market share.

“Um, okay,” Steve said, puzzled. What had just happened? 

~~~~~

At first, Steve chalked it up to Tony’s being busy with Stark Industries. Tony was suddenly rushing here and there for meetings, then burrowing himself into the workshop for hours at a time. Steve knew that the current crisis would blow over in time and Steve would get his boyfriend back. And it would go back to normal.

It did and it didn’t.

Tony wasn’t going into Stark Industries daily. But he was living in his workshop, only coming up for air and more coffee and the occasional dinner with Steve. Steve had a bare idea of what was going on -- Tony talked about needing new designs for SI solar collectors, updated software for a complicated biomedical device that Steve never caught the name of, and new phones. 

Steve smiled encouragingly. “You’ll find that bug, Tony.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony waved his hands in the air. 

“Um, I have some training planned and we need Iron Man.”

“Right.” Tony tapped his phone. “I see it on my schedule. I’ll be there with bells on.”

“Afterwards, we could go to Antonio’s?”

“Sounds perfect.” Tony was writing out some code on a napkin. “We haven’t been there in a while.” He kissed Steve on the head and ruffled his hair. “I’ll be up to watch the evening news with you.”

~~~~~

Steve loved Tony with every fiber of his being. He couldn’t imagine being with anyone else or ever wanting to be with anyone. He smiled down at Tony, asleep on his shoulder, barely able to keep his eyes open during the movie. Steve twirled Tony’s hair between his fingers, breathing in the faint scent of metal, seeing the faint glow of the arc reactor under Tony’s t-shirt. He’d do anything for Tony.

But, damn, he missed having sex with Tony, the catch and pull of their skin together, the way Tony’s breath hitched when Steve put his fingers right there, the weight of Tony in his arms as they cuddled in the afterglow. 

It was just that for a few weeks now, they were too busy or too tired or Tony was busy working. Steve needed to be patient. They’d get their break.

Tony woke up early muttering about Hammer and Stane and AIM and came back late at night, at the moment when Steve was falling asleep over a book in bed. Steve found himself luring Tony out of the workshop with food, like he had when they’d first met. Or eating in the workshop with Tony when that was more convenient and Tony hadn’t slipped away to a meeting.

Perched on a stool out of the way of Tony’s soldering iron, Steve said, “There’s an art deco exhibit at the MET this weekend. We got an invite to the opening. I could make dinner reservations.” The breath caught in his throat as he waited hopefully for Tony’s answer.

Tony cursed as he stripped a screw on the engine mock-up in front of him. “What?”

Steve bit his lip. He’d dated Tony long enough to know he should have checked if Tony was paying an iota of attention to him before saying anything. “Exhibit opening at MET. Dinner reservations.”

Tony pushed his goggles up. “Saturday?”

“Friday night.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

They had a great dinner and a lovely time at the exhibit, even if Steve had been slightly disappointed with the art. Tony flirted all night with Steve, teasing him as they rode back to the Tower. “I know what you’re thinking,” he whispered, his breath hot on the shell of Steve’s ear.

“Yeah, what am I thinking?” Steve replied, feeling the familiar stirring in his stomach as he calculated how fast the Tower elevator could go.

“Math. Sexy, sexy math,” Tony said, his clever fingers already working the buttons on Steve’s shirt.

Steve had no idea how they made it to the suite without ripping each other’s clothes off. He shimmied out of his jeans and slipped off his shirt. Tony was waiting for him on the bed, smiling and warm and inviting. He sank gratefully onto an enthusiastic Tony, kissing and touching wherever they could.

Tony’s phone rang. Not buzzed. Rang, with a ringtone like the Ride of the Valkyries.

Steve turned to Tony, who mouthed sorry and threw the phone into a corner of the room. Nuzzling Tony’s neck, Steve had a hand on Tony’s ass and another between his thighs. Except that now Tony was going through the motions. Steve could sense the lack of interest as palpably as he could feel the bed underneath them. He pulled back. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah. I’m here. Really.” Tony pulled Steve for more kisses and brushed his hand along Steve’s cock, a sure-fire way to get Steve all a-tingle again.

They ended up rubbing each other off until Steve came. Steve got up to get a washcloth for Tony. When he came back, Tony was already falling asleep. Steve felt a sudden pang of disappointment. But he settled into bed next to Tony, who rolled away from Steve, taking all the covers with him.

~~~~~

A week later, Steve sat at the Datacrux, tapping his fingers, wondering what exactly he was hoping for.

Tony had turned him down three more times when Steve suggested some explicit fooling around and, weirdly, hadn’t made a move on Steve either. All after that vaguely disappointing evening.

He could do this. Steve could pinpoint the problem, take it apart and get a solution. Maybe it was his technique. Tony had been the more experienced one when they started the relationship, having to be patient with fumbling Steve, whose desire and want outstripped his actual ability in the sack.

Tony had been working hard and needed something more to drag him out of his troubles. And … and Steve hadn’t done that. Clearly Tony had wanted something spectacular in the bedroom, not whatever vanilla sex Steve was offering. 

That’s why Steve was sitting in the Datacrux, head in hands and cold coffee at his elbow, trying to figure out how exactly to frame his web search so he didn’t get pages and pages of porn.

WIth a sigh, he tapped on an article promising ways to spice up your relationship. After a few more articles of that type, Steve decided that porn was the easier way. Much easier way to learn something that would bring Tony to the yard and make him sit up and notice Steve. 

~~~~~

Operation Show Tony What Steve Can Do Now was in operation.

All he had to be was confident. Steve could confidently punch tanks into oblivion, not so much seducing Tony.

Desperate to reconnect with his boyfriend, Steve spent the afternoon getting the suite ready with candles, lights, the right music. He got dressed in the sexiest clothes he owned. He got Tony to come up to the suite. 

Three hours later, Steve sat in the suite’s living room, wondering how the evening went horribly wrong. And when did Tony start snoring in his sleep?

~~~~~

After that disaster, Tony spent even less time in the Tower. A business trip, he told Steve, then it was late night meetings at SI. 

Then he missed a mission. Steve and the team waited as long as they could on the quinjet for Iron Man to show up. 

“What’s the ETA on Tony?” Natasha asked.

“He should be here any minute now,” Steve said.

He ignored the significant look that the team exchanged. Tony wouldn’t let them down. He always came.

“Cap, we need to go or else.”

Except this time.

With a heavy heart, Steve said, “Okay. Let’s get the Squadron.”

On the field, Steve could forget the problems back at home. Or the gnawing worry that was eating away in his guts that Tony found out that Steve wasn’t enough for him. Smash, throw, punch, whack, rinse, repeat. That he understood. There was a rhythm to fighting, to strategizing, to debriefing. The Squadron was defeated, the bombs defused, another city saved.

He could stay behind with SHIELD to oversee clean-up. But Steve was never one to run away from his problems.

“Want to join us for dinner, Cap?” Sam asked when they got back to the Tower.

“No, I’m going to catch up with Tony,” Steve said, a hopeful tone in his voice. 

Tony didn’t come home that night. Alone, again. Steve sat eating cold pizza in the kitchen. He hadn’t heard from Tony at all and he felt defeated.

~~~~~

“Tony, it’s Steve, you didn’t come home last night.” Steve’s voice broke as he left the tenth message that morning.

No matter how many punching bags Steve went through, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong here. Not in a ‘Tony has been kidnapped by the Red Skull’ sort of way. He could handle that. This was worse -- feeling Tony slipping through his fingers day by day.

“Steve?” Tony’s voice came through the speaker in the gym. FRIDAY must have patched him through.

Relief flooded over Steve when he heard Tony’s voice. “Tony?”

“No one called you? I left directions for someone to call you -- I’ve been holed up with lawyers in negotiations for hours and hours. I can’t leave the offices right now -- come down and we’ll have dinner.”

Steve didn’t even bother to shower as he grabbed the first elevator down to the SI offices below the Avengers’ floors.

With a spring in his step and an eagerness to see Tony, he almost ran to the office. Except that Tony was on the phone -- he could hear him outside the door. 

“I don’t know, Rhodey. It’s all a mess -- I’ve straightened out the worst of it. Maybe it’s time I resigned and retired to a farm somewhere. You know, make way for new blood. The Avengers too.”

Steve put his hand on the doorframe, his blood running cold and the solid floor suddenly shaky beneath his feet.

“Ha. Like city boy Steve would live on a farm. You owe me a visit -- it’s been too long. Got to go -- a supersoldier is waiting for me.”

Tony smiled at Steve. “Good to see you.”

Steve always melted at that beautiful smile. Tonight was no different -- all he wanted to do was have dinner with his boyfriend. And find out what the hell that call was about.

“I’ve ordered dinner in. I forget where Bambi ordered from -- but it’s got to be better than the cold BBQ I had for lunch.” 

At that, an SI staffer ran in with a cart laden with food and set up the conference table in the corner of the room with dishes still steaming hot from Antonio’s. Steve had a weakness for the garlic bread.

Tony ran a hand through his unruly hair. “You have no idea, Steve, how crazy these negotiations have been.” He sat down at the table, tugging on Steve’s hand to join him. “Look.” He pushed the garlic bread over to Steve.

“It’s been a week --” Steve said.

“Noooo. Can’t be.” Tony looked at his phone. “Wow. Had no idea. Come on -- Bambi ordered enough even for you. So, tell me about the team.”

Steve felt the warmth of Tony’s attention like the summer sun. Tony laughed and joked through dinner, his phone, tablet and computer a distance away on the desk. By the time Tony was stealing bites of Steve’s dinner, something unpleasant and dark had unwound in Steve, leaving him relaxed for the first time in weeks.

They finished up the dessert and Steve said, “We have time for a movie or two before bed.”

Tony’s face fell. “I want to but I’ve got work here.”

“Tony --”

“It’s okay, Steve. I won’t be long -- I’ll be right up after I finish reading these briefs.”

Steve nodded slowly. “Okay. Just don’t take too long.”

~~~~~

He knew that Tony slipped into their bed after Steve fell asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night with Tony’s arm around his waist and hearing the even rise and fall of Tony’s breathing. But Tony was gone again in the morning, his spot in the bed already cold when Steve got up.

Steve didn’t go for his run. 

He sat on the edge of their bed. Life would be easier if he could cry. He was losing Tony. 

It was probably inevitable that he couldn’t keep Tony. Tony was brilliant and beautiful and wonderful in all ways. Steve wasn’t someone who could command Tony’s attention forever. He should have realized that sooner. 

But he’d been in love with Tony from the minute they’d met. They’d been great teammates and friends and then more than friends. But then Tony discovered all of Steve’s inadequacies, that he wasn’t as smart as Tony or as good in bed or a dozen other things.

Outside of the serum, what did Steve really have to offer someone like Tony?

~~~~~

The team noticed. Tony barely showed up for training, though he didn’t miss the next mission. He turned up at the AIM base, waved to the team as he fought beside them and then jetted off as local officials showed up to make the arrests.

On the quinjet back home, Steve opted to pilot, sitting up in front, hoping the simple work would distract him from the argument in the back.

“Hey, I wish I was on the Do-As-Little-As-Possible Plan,” Clint said.

“Tony’s been busy,” Sam said, quick to defend their absent teammate. “He’s got a billion-dollar company to run.”

“Cap, what’s the deal with Tony?”

“Like Sam said, he’s got a lot on his plate.”

He didn’t need to turn around to know that Clint had given him a less-than-impressed look. But he wasn’t in the mood to discuss it either. Finally the team moved onto other topics, eventually either reading, playing games or taking a nap.

Clint sat down next to Steve. “So, really, what’s the deal here? Something’s up.”

“I don’t know,” Steve finally admitted.

“You should ask -- Tony won’t lie to you.”

Steve wasn’t sure about that anymore. “Tony will tell me when he wants to.” His voice was shaky as he talked. 

Cllnt narrowed his eyes. “If you’re swapping body fluids, then you have the right to ask what in damn hell is going on,” Clint pointed out. “Ask him. Unless you’re afraid of the answer, in which case, live in ignorance.”

“I trust Tony,” Steve said, as if that was the answer to everything. He did trust Tony. He loved Tony. 

It just hadn’t worked out for them.

~~~~~

After they got home, Steve punched in a request for a few days off. The mission cleared his mind.

The team was the most important thing. He had to preserve that. If Tony was avoiding him now and wasn’t able to break up with Steve, Steve had to make that decision for Tony. Tony deserved the world and Steve was in the way of Tony’s happiness. The team needed Iron Man and Steve was in the way of Tony being able to be a teammate.

So breaking up was the right thing to do.

He’d move into one of the guest rooms until more permanent arrangements could be made. Tony again hadn’t come home so Steve had the morning to start pulling his stuff together and pack it up.

He had just opened a suitcase when Tony rushed into the room. “What the hell, Steve?! FRIDAY told me what you were doing.”

Steve couldn’t bear to look at Tony. He stopped fiddling with the suitcase and sat down on the bed, all the while staring at the floor. 

“Steve, come on. What’s going on here?”

WIth a quavering voice, Steve said, “You’ve been spending a lot of time away, and I must be the problem. So if I move out, you can come back to the team.”

“Oh my god, Steve.”

Tony sat down on the bed, right next to Steve. It took all the strength Steve had not to reach out to Tony, to put an arm around him. He looked straight ahead.

“You look like you’re about to storm the beaches at Normandy -- yeah, I know you did that -- but this is me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“You just haven’t been here, Tony. I never see you anymore. You’re not here, you’re at SI. We never spend any time together.” Steve felt his face redden. “We haven’t had sex in weeks. It’s -- that the problem has to be me if you’re not happy here.”

Tony put a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Look at me, Steve. You aren’t the problem here. Not you. Never.”

“I heard you tell Rhodey you were quitting -- and you haven’t spent any time with the team --”

“First of all, I was blowing off steam. I’m not quitting the Avengers -- I was talking about Stark Industries.”

Steve nodded, not exactly comprehending what Tony was saying.

Tony got up off the bed and tugged on Steve’s hand until Steve stood up. He led them over to the couch in the corner of the bedroom. “Steve, okay. This has nothing to do with you. You’re perfect. This is not about you. I need you to understand that.”

Steve leaned against the arm of the couch so he could look at Tony. Tony looked like he was about to cry and Steve wanted to hold him so he wouldn’t. 

“Okay. We should have talked -- that’s mostly on me -- we shouldn’t have gotten to the point you’d leave me.” Tony took a deep breath. “I’ve always been The Guy for technology, always developing blockbuster ideas for Stark Industries. Then, I get blown up, get a glowing light in my chest, I get involved with the Avengers, and I get you and it’s fantastic. But SI -- we’re falling behind, and the R&D guys are behind the curve. I didn’t even notice. Then that reporter -- the Stane kid -- before the whole Kang thing --”

“Wait, this is all because some reporter said that you weren’t at the top of the technology field --?”

“Losing it. Lost it. Seriously, Steve, if Hammer, even when he’s in jail, is eating my lunch tech-wise, then I’m the lowest of the low.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Tony sat bolt upright and scrabbled for his phone. He typed furiously. “What is going on here?”

“Tony, I read all the news about SI. The company is doing fine, I thought that reporter was full of shit when they asked you about losing market share to Hammer. I thought you knew that too.”

“I’ve been spending all my time trying to prove that I still got it, to get SI back into the game.”

“You never lost it and SI is doing great,” Steve replied. “Supervillains will say anything to get to you.” He shuffled across the couch towards Tony.

“Damn it, Supervillainy 101. And I fell for it.” Scowling, Tony clenched his fist.

Now Steve reached for Tony. He slid into his spot on the couch, pulling Tony next to him, just like they were watching television. 

“Tony, it matters a lot to you to be the best there is in technology,” Steve said. “It matters a lot to you.”

“Not if it means losing you.” Tony turned pale. “I was about to lose you. All because of this.”

“I know I’m not great in bed, Tony. Maybe you need someone --”

“Shut up. You’re everything to me, Steve. God, I have no idea why or how you’re in love with me. I’m going to make this up to you.”

Steve pulled Tony close to him, so he could hear the hum of the arc reactor and feel Tony’s warmth. He was never going to let Tony go. Not now. “It’s fine, Tony.” He could feel Tony shaking, and he ventured a kiss to Tony’s temple. 

“No, it’s not fine. You have to know how much I love you.” Tony shuddered. “I was not nice to you when you tried that striptease.” Tony smacked his palm on his forehead. “Great, I made things even worse.”

All Steve wanted to do was hold Tony as long as he could. Before Tony slipped away again. Tony leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder, their hands intertwined. They turned to each other at the exact same moment to kiss and lean into each other, exploring each other’s mouths, chasing the warmth and connection they wanted. 

Finally Tony broke the kiss. “Let me get my phone. I’m cancelling all my meetings and booking us a vacation -- just the two of us, alone, no SI, no Avengers, no stupid Hammer fans.”

Steve was deliriously happy to have Tony back. “It’s fine.”

“No no, it’s not. First we put your stuff back and get rid of the suitcases.”

“Stay here,” Steve insisted, pulling Tony back down onto the couch and back against him.

“I will,” Tony promised.


End file.
